A Leader's Journal
by xmaslightguy
Summary: Follow Enrico Dandolo as he records his thoughts while ruling his people. Read as he discovers new technologies, riches, and people through the ages, and watch as the events of the past quickly unfold to a climatic future!
1. Chapter 1

**3450 BC** \- Chapter 1: Introductions

This is really amazing, isn't it? A few months ago, one of my scholars comes to me and started ranting on about things like letters, sentences, and this contraption called an alphabet. I asked him where this contraption was so I could see it, and wouldn't you know it, the fool pulled out a rock! I was so confused I almost fired the man as my leader scholar, but I'm glad I didn't. That rock had all these symbols engraved into it, and I've been learning how to interpret them. This thing, which he calls "writing," has completely changed my outlook, and lead me to record this journal. I'll explain more in a second, but first I'll say hello from the past! I am Enrico Dandolo, the immortal ruler of Venice.

So anyway, I'm writing this from the past. I can't say for sure how far in the past, but I plan on revising these entries at a future date when I understand more.

(_This is what an edit will look like. The original entry was made at some point around 3450 BC. I couldn't pinpoint it closer to the actual date due to a severe lack of any sort of record keeping. Makes me laugh honestly._)

This record will be kept to remember the history of my people, because frankly I don't trust them. Already I've seen evidence that they do enjoy embellishing facts with fantasy. Just the other day I was asked by a young mother to use my powers to cure her child, and the next day another woman was asking me to purge the child she was carrying within her. Honestly, besides never aging and being completely immortal, I don't have any powers!

Now that probably sounds ridiculous, and if I'm not around anymore when you read this then it was ridiculous and I probably died. Anyway, as far as I can tell, I am immortal. I've now watched at least 20 generations of people be born, have children, and die, while I have failed to accomplish any of the three. I was never born, I just existed. Imagine a rock sitting in the ground, do you know why it is there? And would it make a difference if you did? All you need to know is that the rock is there, can be assumed to have always existed in some form, and will remain so.

(_I felt the need to correct myself here. We now know that stone is certainly not permanent, and that it can be transformed by any number of processes. Instead think the universe itself. It may change appearance, but it will always exist and has always existed._)

However, please don't interpret this as making me all knowing or omnipotent. I very well may be the smartest human alive on known facts, but I'm on equal footing, if not worse, with my scholars when it comes to new ideas. Take this writing for example, I didn't come up with it. However, I will use it and never have to worry about having to pass the knowledge down to my children, which is my next point. I've been unable to father any children, much to several wives' extreme distress. On that note, you probably won't hear much mention of wives in this record. I've learned that to get that close to someone who will just quickly whittle away and die is an experience few can experience once, let alone how many times I have already.

(_My I was so naive back at this time. I will learn very quickly that love and wives are powerful forces, and so they will be playing a very important part in this journal._)

Finally, I can't die. Trust me, I've certainly tried, but that peace has evaded me endlessly. To give some examples, there was a time after the third generation passed that I attempted to kill myself. This went on for about a year or so, in which I never ate anything, walked around with an increasing number of branches forced through my body, and would constantly throw myself off any height surface I could find. This was all horribly uncomfortable to say the least, but never beyond that. I never came close to death, and so I was forced to continue on in misery. Don't worry, this record won't simply be me bringing you down. Have faith, I am much better. You see, I've discovered that while individual human lives may come and pass, the human spirit is just as immortal as myself. That is what I believe has caused me to exist, to be a Sheppard of sorts for this human spirit, for without my guidance, I'm sure that many more humans would pass away much sooner. So, I've made it my purpose to promote well being in all humans under my domain, and attempt to reason with as many as I can outside of my domain.

That domain is Venice, the grandest city of the world. Frankly it's the only city also, but first is first, regardless of the number of contestants, right? Anyway, we are situated on the coast of the great water (_later to be called The Ambirgo, one of three major oceans on this planet_). Our territory spans for miles in all directions landward, encompassing the beaches, the plains beyond them, the great forest after them, and ending with a mountain range we call the Teeth of The World. There are two passes through the teeth, but I've yet to see good reason to pass beyond them. We are content where we are, so why go looking for trouble? Besides, any of my citizens brave or foolish enough to venture through those passes has never been seen again.

(_This next part was not included in the original record_)

Venice sits on the smallest of three continents, called Minimus. Those citizens that disappeared actual discovered equally fertile land past the mountains in a central plain, and would form the city-state of Lye. This city state was discovered at a later date, with an accompanying entry in this record. Still continuing north of Lye, the continent turns into a jungle, and actually ends a few miles from the equator. To the west the mountains travel a few more miles and then end at The Ambirgo again, along with the plains, forests, and jungle. To the east, the land shifts up and passes through the equator, creating a very harsh desert. On the other side of this desert is a relatively small savannah, and then once again ocean. Besides Lye, another city-state would eventually form in this area.

To cover the other continents, we have the middle-sized of the three called Mynlurg, which actually held a total of 5 other nations and 3 city-states. Not that that is still the case, but you should know how that turned out anyway. Just in case you don't, it will also be in a later record. That land is located to the north of Minimus, and is split equally with either thick forest, or frozen tundra. This continent also has the most volcanic activity of any continent, and as such the nations there found both fertile farmland and rare minerals once the forests and snow were cleared.

The final continent is the largest called Gregatus, located to the west and east of the Minimus and Mynlurg, it almost spans the whole height of the world, touching the northern ice-cap and only a few hundred miles away from the southern. There were three nations and five city-states on this continent, and thanks to the immense size for them to spread into, all but one city-state are still there. The land has all forms of terrain, with the most notable grouping being the mountain range, which travels from halfway down the west coast to about three-quarters of the way down the east coast. It has plenty of points where the mountains are really just hills, and others were the land slops up and the mountains appear to disappear, so the north and south are never really separated. This range does disturb the air currents, so the north has a massive desert, while the south has fertile rainforests.

(_This continues the original record_)

Our city has grown since its founding 20 generations ago. At that point, we started with just 400 people, which I had gathered from across the basin we now call home. In the beginning there were some struggles between the people, and three main groups formed. The first are called Warriors, and at the time they represented more than half of the population. These people were so familiar with fighting each other that they didn't know what to do without anyone to attack. Both luckily and unluckily, it appears several tribes on the other side of the mountains discovered our community and sent their own fighters to pillage our city. The warrior's got their entertainment, and the other two groups managed to avoid being harassed for the most part.

The second group are called Workers. These people have taken an extreme liking to this new lifestyle of staying in one place and building up what we have. I nearly started a riot when I announced a wished for a palace to reside in, and every worker subsequently jumped at the chance to better each other. After many moons of the grandest house being outdone by a grander house, I put my foot down and claimed the best one at the time. Can't say I'm too disappointed, as I have more space than I know what to do with, and the view of the city on one side and ocean on the other is perfect. People from this demographic also farm the surrounding land, and I'm pressing them to expand so our population can continue to explode.

(_This group also will end up including the merchants that Venice will be built on. They just didn't really exist at this point_)

The last group are my personal favorite for reasons such as "writing," and that's the Scholars. These people are brilliant beyond comprehension, which is what makes them so good at what they do. They are given a problem, and find a new way to solve it. I remember a time when we were clearing some trees. The Warriors went at it like an enemy and hacked with their weapons. They downed the trees eventually, but their technique tired them quickly and damaged their weapons. The Workers attempted to use teams of two with axes to alternate hits on the trunk, and this worked fine, but wasn't very quick. The scholars really astonished me, since they took some coils of fiber, roped them between two tree trunks, and then fell a third on that fiber. Everyone was amazed when the weight of the third tree pulled the other two down also.

From these three groups, we've now grown to a population of over 10,000. Looking outside my palace as I record this, I couldn't be more proud of my people as the expand and improve. I think I'll be done writing for today, but I'm sure there will be many events to write about in the future, where ever that may lead.

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**AN: ****This is my first fanfiction, but Civilization always inspires me to tell a story. This is not based on a single game, but on how I would love to see a game played out. If necessary, I may create the map described in this chapter, but that is a later task. Anyway, please Review so that I can learn what is enjoyable and what isn't, and also if you see potential for the series, or if I'm just going down an unnecessary path. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**3350 BC - **Chapter 2: Internal Conflict

Being an immortal ruler, I've already experienced every kind of day on my throne. Some days are really easy, and I can just admire the bustling city my people have created. My subjects accomplish their tasks quickly, no barbarians attack, and things are looking up. Other times, there is nothing I would rather do than bury myself in a hill-side and just wait hundreds of years for someone to randomly dig me up. When the weather is harsh, the people upset, or some other problem I can't seem to fix. Today, I wanted to dig a very deep hole...

To really understand why today was so terrible, we need to go back a moon (_One lunar cycle, or 26 days. This was how we told time back then_). Outside of Venice, about a day's walk, there is a large hill that has an opening in its side. For awhile now the people of Venice have known of this opening, and children from the surrounding farms would often play there. However, a moon ago, one of the farmers near this hill came into town with the most beautiful material I, nor any of my subjects, had ever seen. We thought he had grown it, but after much pestering, he admitted to finding it in the hill. I sent a team of workers immediately to explore this cave. They returned with baskets full of this material, which we had deemed the name gold. The cave appeared to be a source of this metal, and I immediately wished for the remaining metal to be unearthed and the gold brought back to Venice. However, all of my workers were already busy expanding our farmland, so I had to turn to the Warrior class and ask for their help.

A moon later, and the Warriors have laid claim to the hill as their own nation of Fist-Blood. I spent an entire day in conference with their leader, Lye Braveheart, and I've had to face the stubbornness of the Warrior class in force.

(_If that last name sounds familiar, it should. Braveheart would eventually become one of the Great Families, and Lye was basically their founder. However, many historians argue that it was really his grandfather, Gur'goh, that started the Braveheart family's ascent to power, when he became the strongest of the Warrior class in Venice._)

They are determined to keep their new nation, just as I am determined to either reclaim them as my citizens, or even better, send them over the mountains and be done with them. It is only a small portion of the Warriors, but I can't guarantee their numbers won't grow if they stick around. Their encampment consists of many trees stacked in a crude circle, with the branches all broken and sharpened. A grown man would have difficulty climbing through the bramble without stabbing himself, but the Warriors have also created slots to push spears through, making any such climb near impossible. The main weakness is the entrance, as they don't have a real gate, but since the rest of the encampment is so secured, the majority of the Warriors could focus on defending that gate. Essentially, it is not impenetrable, but it will cost many lives if I'm forced to attack it. I will rest now, and next sun once again try to convince Braveheart to leave my domain.

(_The following record was written within a few weeks of the previous_)

I'm certain I now despise the Warrior class, but I also now recognize their effectiveness. When all else fails, it seems brute force is the only solution. After almost half a moon, Lye and I have gotten no closer to an agreement. Several nights ago, he made the statement, "We won't abandon our nation, ever!" so I had the remaining garrison of Warriors in Venice come marching to the hill, and set up defenses around it. Braveheart took this as a direct insult, and in his anger, tried to hack off my head when I met him for discussions. I have to give him credit, as he broke four axes and a club before finally accepting that I was in-fact immortal. Next we had a less than civilized discussion, and it was agreed the Fist-Blood's would travel through the mountains and leave my domain. Sadly, I had to surrender to Braveheart all of the gold the Warriors had mined in the time they had claimed the hill. He expertly probed this hurt when he showed me the chests of gold uncovered. I nearly cried at the sight of it.

So those Fist-Blood's are finally off my hill, and I've accepted placing Workers in-charge of the mining, at the cost of less progress since I could only spare a few. As for the 200 Warriors now exiled, they have taken their wives and children, so now a host of over 600 of my previous citizens are making their way to the mountains. My heart breaks for them, but I just have to remember that they chose Braveheart over an immortal king, and they deserve whatever fate awaits them beyond the mountains. This has also caused a problem of sorts. With the increased farmland and a sudden loss of 600 citizens, Venice's food stores are full, and I can feel the city begging for improvement. In order to help this, I have announced a festival of love. It shall take place in two moons, and it will be used to encourage more children amongst the populace.

(_This festival would actually stand the test of time interestingly enough. Got to say, compared to some of the earlier festivals of love, the modern ones are just pathetic and boring. Anyway, I've decided to omit the next record, which mostly contained details of the event, and would probably take away from the true purpose of this journal. However, I will include the below portion, as it is extremely important_)

...After such a display, we desperately had to find a new town crier. I turned away from the scene, as several couples had actually been interested by the attempt and were now trying it themselves. As I walked away, I found myself alone in an alleyway. I wasn't afraid, since I couldn't die, but I did see a young woman with three Workers, and while it was evident the men were in the mood of the festival, the woman was obviously not. I moved in to stop them, as I had previously ordered the festival should be a time of joy, and no man would be allowed to force himself on a woman. The fools were so excited however, one of them tried to punch me! Being immortal has the advantage of allowing me to push my body beyond normal limits, and I quickly knocked out all three men. I offered to lead the woman home, and so I got to know her a bit better. Her name is Cherida, and she had some amazing ideas of how Venice could be. It may have been the festival feeling, but I thought they sounded brilliant. Writing them down, I can't help but feel embarrassed, however, maybe one day I will be looking over this record and be reminded of Cherida's vision. Anyway, she described a world where men and women were equals. Were a man was obliged and happy to stand up for a woman, and a woman was able to support a man. An existence in which a woman was born with a right to say her mind, and this couldn't be taken away, even at marriage. In fact, she then bounced back and said men needed this right too. She then proceeded to attack many of my actions, saying I was making decisions to control my people, rather than for my people. Writing this down, I realize I might just have to arrest Cherida. How dare a woman question the authority of her immortal king!

(_Cherida would become my wife later that year, and live with me for another 16 years before she passed away. During that time, she never stopped expressing her bold ideas, and I like to think she was the reason Venice obtained basic human rights centuries before any other nation_)

* * *

**A/N: It took longer than I wanted to write this chapter, but be glad. My original draft was much shorter and less detailed than this one, and it was only because I put off finishing it for long enough that I added to it and made a chapter I could accept. Because of this, I've decided to avoid making any sort of promise towards when the next chapter is released. Instead, I will place quality over quantity, and only release chapters when I'm satisfied with their content. And thank you for the reviews, I really appreciate them!**


	3. Chapter 3

**3250 BC**

(_By this point the Scholars had researched a basic calendar. The citizens and I could now tell how the days spanned over a cycle of a little over 300 and would have consistent seasons. The term "season" wouldn't be adopted for many more years, but we now knew that there was a time when the air was warmer and rains would come, and another time when it became bitter cold and snow would fall. Of course we were aware of the summer and winter before this time, but now we started predicting just how much time was left until it started snowing or got warmer._)

It has been many years since I've last written. The previous entries have actually collapsed into dust, and I've been forced to rewrite them several times just to keep them from disappearing forever. I've organized a group of scribes and masons to work together now and carve my entries, and many other important documents, into stone slabs and protect them. The men assigned to this group have taken to calling themselves "The Recorded Society," and seem to have taken a great passion to their work. It's good that at least someone is taking their job seriously.

I'm referring to the lead scouting group of my warrior class. Those fools pestered me almost continuously to let them travel beyond the mountains and explore the world. No matter how many times I attempted to explain that the people of Venice were doing fine in our own land, and there was nothing to gain from this expedition, they'd just overpower me with passionate words of glory, honor, and something else that doesn't make sense. I believe they called it a "future"? They described it as a concept of what's to come, like how farmers grow extra food in the warm times so that they have food in the cold times. I explained how the farmers simply grew as much food as they could when the plants would grow, and it had nothing to do with this idea of a "future," but they were insistent and just continued ranting about the expedition and the future. The only argument they made which may have convinced me was how they may find more hills with gold beyond the mountains, but when I tried to press them on that subject, they admitted to knowing nothing about finding a hill of gold and would probably be unable to.

So, like any reasonable ruler, I told them to stop dreaming of beyond the mountains and instead focus on improving Venice. The festival of love and my orders to expand the farm lands have resulted in an explosion of population, and many of the Warrior class were finding work crafting tools for the civilians that came from their primitive weapons. I was actually browsing the marketplace, and saw one merchant selling a long stick with a stone put flatly on the end. I asked him what purpose this could hold, and he demonstrated how he could use it to tear up the soil and thus make it easier to plant seeds and for water to get to the crops. These inventions were what those scouts should have been working on, and I told, then eventually had to order them, to settle down in our valley. Yet they continued talking about future and their expeditions in the inns and homes, so when they came to me again two years later, they brought a crowd of thousands supporting their expedition. In my disbelief and irritation, I announced full support for the expedition just to settle the crowds. In hindsight, the expense on my treasury was appalling and I would have been much wiser to just send the scouts without any supplies.

Still, I haven't gotten to my original point about the scouts not taking pride in their work. For all their talk, these men truly had no idea what they were getting into. After only a single period of frozen rain, they came back empty handed with only stories of barbarians, an ocean of grass, and another city! I wanted them to bring me back chests filled with gold, silver, and other riches to make up for the cost of sending them in the first place. Nonetheless, the discovery of another city was impressive. The scouts did however report that when they attempted to get close to the city, miniature spears came falling out of the sky fast enough to puncture leather. I've already ordered the Scholar class to try and discover a way to project the shafts that the scouts brought back. Yet now I'm at a cross-road, as I can't just ignore the city and its people, but I also won't send my warriors to be slaughter by these strange weapons.

(_If it wasn't clear, the weapons the scouts faced were early arrows fired by archers. The history of the continent Minimus is clear that military technologies were not an early focus of Venice or the city states. By the time Lye discovered archery, Mynlurg nations had already perfected the chariot and were already creating the first catapult. Of course with the events that unfolded on Mynlurg, it is no surprise that those people were experts at killing each other so early on. The next entry takes place several weeks later, and was actually written in the city of Lye._)

After meeting with my council of advisers, it was decided that I would go speak with the rulers of the city. As I'm immortal I could safely walk through the shower of shafts and probably the sight of an immortal ruler would be enough to get the city rulers to actually stop trying to kill me and talk. I can't honestly say I was too excited to leave Venice. There had been signs of some people not being happy with my rule, and there had even been an attempted assassination. Of course the fool was unsuccessful and even now rots in the basement of my palace. Still, I am very worried that I'll return from the trip to find the gates closed to me and a new "ruler" in my place. So I had several hundred loyal Warriors stay in and around my palace, hopefully keeping the peace for now.

I set out with around 200 warriors as an escort, and made it to the city just as the first spots of frozen rain began to descend. The scouts had been accurate about the shafts, and as I walked alone towards the city gates a dozen or more flew out to strike me. I was both glad and a little disappointed when these new tools failed to kill me. When I reached the gates, large rocks and stones were dropped on me, but these also weren't effective. I knocked on the gate, shouting my intention to speak with the ruler of the city. When the only response was more rocks and shafts, I built up the unlimited power of my body and punched straight through the gate. (_While this may sound impressive, the first gate of Lye was actually built out of a single layer of wood that had already begun rotting by the time I first arrived._) Upon seeing my arm pushed through their gate, the fools finally stopped trying to kill me and let me in. Of course my greeting was an armed escort, but at least now we were getting somewhere.

I'll admit to having been surprised by the "ruler" of Lye when I finally was brought to the city center. I'd been secretly hoping to find another immortal ruler whom I could relate to on a personal level, but instead I found an association of seven elders who ruled the city together. My surprised turned to dread when I learned four of them were descendants of Lye Braveheart, and that the other three didn't exactly like me either. I was able to negotiate with the elders to let my warriors stay in the city under guard, but then asked for my leave to formulate my thoughts. And now I'm here, in a dark room writing in this journal, and completely lost on what to do next. I'm sure the warriors want to just ransack the city, and with how much the council hates me that may not be a bad idea. Yet, on my way to this room, I walked past a market place and saw trinkets and jewels that I've never seen before, but also didn't see any of the plows or other items my people had made. Then, down by the river, I saw wooden craft that glided upon the surface of the water. I asked one of the city warriors that was escorting me what they were for, and he described how it would sail to farms along the river to collect food, and then bring it back to the city in less than half the time it would have taken a horse and cart. These trinkets and now wooden craft got me thinking about the possibility of organizing a way for the city to send goods to Venice, and for merchants in Venice to sell goods to be sold back in the city. I'll approach the elders with the plan tomorrow.

(_This entry was made the next day._)

Well I got what I wanted, I guess. Telling them of my plan, the elders were certainly interested in the possibility. It would appear that you either got on the association of elders by being among the strongest warriors, or wealthiest business men, and since warriors often died proving to each other their strength, five of the seven elders were merchants. However, it didn't go exactly as planned. Determined to both get back at me for the apparent wrong I did to Lye Braveheart so many years back, and to secure their position of security, the elders made me agree to marry one of the ladies of family Braveheart. I met with the woman they had chosen, and she certainly wasn't hard on the eyes, but she also looked like she would kill me if she knew how and smile whilst doing it. Still, she's already 26 years of age, and probably won't last much longer compared to how long I've already lived. With the deal settled, I'm taking my new bride, Scarlet, and my warriors on the first wooden craft to sail to Venice, hopefully to open gates and happy citizens.

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**AN: It has taken an unfortunately long time to write this next chapter. A sad mixture of low inspiration and high workload led to me almost abandoning this project. However, now my workload has lightened, and I've played a few games of Civilization again, bringing back my inspiration. I will hopefully be writing chapters much more frequently moving forward.**


	4. Chapter 4

**3250**** BC**

(_The next series of entries started the day after my agreement with Lye, and spanned over the next few weeks._)

I had a most curious discussion today with a sailor aboard the vessel that is taking Scarlet, myself, and my warriors back to Venice. His name is Alba and he has this most curious belief in, as he put it, "A being of such beauty and power, we can only pray that our lives end and we are blessed in their presence." Basically, he thinks that when he dies, he will go somewhere other than into the ground, and at that location will be a beautiful thing. Now for someone who never dies, I found this proposition quite alien, but I was still curious to hear his idea of it.

So I asked him how he would find the beautiful place after he died, to which he said that by pleasing the ultimate being, they would come and guide him at the time of his death. Naturally, I asked him how one pleases the ultimate being. He said that the ultimate being is made up of three purities; a pure mouth which never lies, clean hands which never steal, and a kind heart which always helps and gives. According to him, the closer someone imitates these purities in their life, the better their chances are of having the ultimate being come and guide them to the beautiful place. I must admit I started to chuckle here, because from a ruler's viewpoint this is a wonderful way of controlling the population. If the people of Venice never lied, stole, and gave away their valuables to me, my job would be many times easier than it currently is.

It was by my laughter that I realized Scarlet had actually been listening to our conversation, because she stepped in at this point to try and support Alba's belief. I learned that apparently this "religion," as she called it, was immensely popular in Lye, and they had already build a shrine to worship this ultimate being. I could tell that my disbelief had somehow upset her greatly, or maybe she just hated me to begin with, but I really didn't want it to stay that way, so I asked for her and Alba to start from the beginning and tell me the whole story. It was a long boat ride anyway back to Venice anyway.

(_This religion would one day evolve into the religion of Divine Risposta. However, I was very unimpressed by this early explanation and didn't write down the rest of the history of the religion. It was actually quite a remarkable story, and I'm sure The Recorded Society has a record of it if you ever feel the desire to look it up. This next entry was recorded two weeks later, once Venice had come into view on the horizon._)

I may be immortal, and generally consider myself superior and above the problems normal people have with me, but there is no greater torment that trying to be nice to a woman who hates your very being. Scarlet is nearly impossible to please, and in every attempt I've made to be courteous and kind, she has found reason to hate me even more. These past three days she's taken to ignoring me completely and just pretending like I do not exist. I was tempted on multiple occasions to give up on kindness and simply strike her until she shaped up, but Alba informed me this would be a very bad idea. Apparently, out of the various ladies of house Braveheart, Scarlet was many people's favorite, including the sailors on this ship. Even if you're immortal, it would be extremely uncomfortable to be thrown overboard in the middle of the ocean.

So I've put up with Scarlet's nonsense, and suffered silently through the hate she directed at me. However, her opinion improved immensely when we rounded a peninsula today and for the first time beheld Venice. I hadn't really made the comparison before, but when put against the condition of Lye, Venice looks like the beautiful place Scarlet and Alba had been describing at the beginning of the trip. The buildings are several stories tall, the roads are clean, the harbor bustling, and there is a permeable atmosphere of prosperity and joy in the air. Even though we were still a day-and-a-half's sail away, all of this was evident and Scarlet couldn't help but start asking me all sorts of questions. Whether she continues to hate me until she dies or learns to tolerate my existence, I believe she will always love Venice. Just as I do.

(_In the age of this entry, Venice was very likely the most populous and wealthy city in the world. Its population was approaching 100,000 by this time, and the Recorded Society's best estimates for the death rate was only 20 out of 100 babies would die before their 16__th__ birthday. This means Venice was also the healthiest city in the world as well. This next entry was made a week after reaching the shore along Venice._)

Upon arrival at Venice, I found no rebellion or civil unrest. As the people heard the news of a trade agreement and it was spread to the various merchants, the city started buzzing with energy. Within a day the first trading company was founded and started working on the first harbor and trade ship of Venice. Although what really caused a lot of the excitement was the news that there was going to be a wedding. The people already knew that whenever I got married, there was always a festival that would last many nights and every guest's stomach would be filled with the best foods and drink. It just so happens that the annual festival of love is coming up in two moons as well, so I've already planned to hold the wedding in the days leading up to that festival, and make this wedding an event that all of Venice, and especially Scarlet, will remember forever. Of course it will help that I'm around forever reminding people of how great it was, but still, it will be quite the occasion.

With regards to Scarlet, she has warmed up to her new life in Venice already. The people of Lye and the Venetians all share the same tongue, so she had no problem speaking with all sorts of people. Alba had been right about her representing the ultimate being, and my people have taken an immediate liking to her. Unfortunately, each night when she returns to the Palace, she requests a separate room to sleep in and forbids me from going near her. Now the elders of Lye informed me that Scarlet holds no customs about it being bad luck to sleep with a husband prior to the wedding, so I must only assume this is her way of spiting me.

(_This entry was made a little less than a month later. The wedding was planned to start in two weeks, and would last a total of four days._)

Tonight I have learned the reason Scarlet hates me, amongst other things. I had been in my room, alone as usual, working on a series of request from the farming communities surrounding Venice. As an immortal, I often stay up through much of the night, or forgo sleep entirely. Like food, drink, or even air, I can survive without sleep and feel only discomfort, but no actual harm or loss in ability. Anyway, the requests are a never-ending parade of papers asking for things like supplies, lower taxes because of a bad harvest, or extra workers. They have never actually been about serious problems, but with the constant prosperity of Venice the outlying communities often want to share in that success somehow.

I take it upon myself to read every request, compare it against how much surplus of the requested items are in Venice, and either send it out or reject the request. This is certainly a tedious task, but as a king I feel it is my job. So I was working on these tonight, when Scarlet came into my room. I was surprised certainly, but before I could ask why she was visiting with me she asked what I was working on. I explained how the requests worked, and she calmly took a seat next to me at my table and started going through them with me. We were talking, but at first it was simply questions related to the request. However it soon changed much more serious, and before I knew what was happening Scarlet was in my arms sobbing like a small child. The last thing she managed to say was about her father, but after she began crying it was impossible to distinguish further meaning. So I sat there, holding my future bride as she cried her heart out, for a long while.

She tried several times to collect herself, but it wasn't until the moon had passed its peak in the sky that she could finally explain. Her father had been the greatest person in her life, and she had respected him in all ways. He taught her how to be kind, gracious, and pure. He was the one that introduced her to the ways of the ultimate being, and would sit her on his knee and give her promises of palaces and fine clothes. I learned that Scarlet had actually been born into one of the poorest families in Lye, with her natural beauty being the only thing visibly valuable about her existence. For any other girl in her situation, she would likely be sleeping with countless men just to earn enough food to survive. However her father wouldn't allow this, and used everything he gained from the work he could find to teach Scarlet how to read and write. He bought her good clothes, kept her fed, and paid for her stay with a family in a safer part of Lye.

She never realized it at the time, but in order to save his only child, Scarlet's father had been knowingly killing himself. He wasn't a very strong man, and suffered from nearly constant fainting. Still, every day he went out to perform hard labor, and every chance bought something for Scarlet rather than the herbs he so badly needed. Scarlet missed all the signs of this, and was therefore completely distraught when her father died just a single cycle of seasons past. What was a surprise was when one of the elders of Lye came to her residence after her father's death and told her that she was to be a lady of Lye. The elder had talked with Scarlet's father on several occasions, and had promised him that when he died, Scarlet could come stay in the elder's home with his wife and kids.

Listening to this story had me saddened at Scarlet's loss, but I still didn't understand why she hated me so much. I asked her, but this only triggered another torrent of tears. This period of crying was much shorter, and once it was finished Scarlet explained how she had quickly realized all of her father's promises in me, and how I was extraordinarily kind to her and hadn't tried to force myself upon her. She felt like I was try to take her father's place in her heart, and thus forced herself to hate me. However, as she had fallen asleep that night, her father came back to her in a dream, and showed her the error of her thinking. He knew that Scarlet loved him very much, but was overjoyed at her chance to now enjoy all that he had been unable to provide. He urged her to come and make peace with me, so that she could be at peace with herself and once again be happy.

Scarlet is now asleep in my bed, not as an invitation to join with her, but as a simple acceptance of my company. I will be joining her in sleep as soon as this passage is complete, but I felt it was important to record the events of tonight as accurately as possible.

(_After this night my relationship with Scarlet improved tremendously. We would be married happily, and spend over 30 years together. In that time, she became deeply involved in the development of the arts, and helped jumpstart the culture of Venice which is now known around the globe. It once again proved impossible to have kids with Scarlet, but at her suggestion, we adopted two kids; a six year old boy named Rocco and a two year old girl named Rosalie. I would love both of these kids as if they were my own for the rest of their lives. Sadly, Rosalie died of what is now known as Cholera at the age of 19, six years before Scarlet and without any kids. Rocco would live for a few years after Scarlet, and have several kids._)

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**A/N: While writing this chapter, I've discovered the difficulty with this writing style when trying t****o depict a conversation. Half way through I was tempted to go back and change all the chapters to a more traditional third-person fiction, but I've decided to stick with it. In the next chapter I will be covering Enrico's actions after Scarlet's death, and I'm very excited to write it. The plot will be advancing fairly quickly, as I am now entering into one of my preplanned story arcs.**


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